Cassie+LawsonLBF

Executive Summary
The first method of information gathering began with perusing the ages of the respondents. A range of approximately 7 to 7 was present. After examining the age range, I looked at the responses of randomly chosen individuals to get a sense of the nature of the answers. Finally, a look at the details of the boring and fun experiences occurred. Overall, the findings found many commonalities among perceived boring and fun learning environments. The responses ranged from brief (and sometimes grammatically awkward or incorrect) to verbose. There seemed to be a correlation between the length of response and age of the survey-taker. Also, the majority of boring experiences took place within a classroom, while fun experiences were often out of the traditional classroom.

What Makes Learning Boring?
A response that summed up this generalization was the students were to "just sit and listen". Learning environments that did not ask for interaction from the learners were overwhelming categorized as boring. Being asked to simply sit and listen to a lecture is difficult to engage the learner in the material being presented. Many respondents who discussed an event that took place while in high school or college noted the difficulty in just listening to a lecture. Having "no chance to interact" seems like a red flag for a boring learning experience.
 * 1) Boring experiences were characterized by little to no interaction from the learners.**

One respondent, Karina Idealist, wrote, "It was a two hour lecture on a subject I did not have any interest in at all." If the student has no investment in the material being taught, then it appears that it will be less likely they will have fun during the lesson. Another person wrote how they already knew the math concepts being taught and that is why he tuned out the lecture. Not gaining new information or covering information that was not interesting is a strong indicator of boredom.
 * 2) Material was already known or not interesting to the learner.**

Some respondents described staff meetings with little interaction or trainings with poor speakers, but the underlying theme is being in a learning environment where you did not choose to be a participant. One person wrote, "Our administrator was talking to us about intervention strategies [...] 35 teachers in a classroom sitting in student chairs at student desks with not opportunity to interact with each other." In this example, the school administrator appears to be doling out the information without feedback from the learners (teachers). The respondent also indicates that the information given out by the administrator were of little value to their teaching. Perhaps if the learners had chosen to attend the meeting, there would be more invested and they would get more out of the experience.
 * 3) Class / workshop was for work.**

When the instructor gives directions or information on a topic, but does not explain it fully, the learners are lost, frustrated and ultimately, bored. One person noted about an exercise in labeling the parts of a poem where she did not know what the poem meant: " I remember asking what a word meant and was told that vocabulary was not part of the lesson and to get back on track. I was lost from that point on. " Learners become bored when they are not being helped by the instructor but still expected to complete an assignment.
 * 4) Not understanding the material.**

Many people wrote about lectures without any types of visual, or a PowerPoint presentation that is just read to the learners. When the instructor simply reads the PowerPoint without adding anecdotes or additional information, the learners are apt to feel uninterested or bored. El Cajon Ed described, " Learning U.S. History by copying notes from blackboard as the teacher wrote and read them. " This scenario also lacks visual interest to students.
 * 5) Lack of visuals.**

What Makes Learning Fun?
A nine year-old girl described petting animals in their natural environment. Another young learner wrote about wearing a wet suit in the water and interacting with sea animals. Other examples include: using building blocks, assembling bones from an owl pellet, dressing up as a character, and making maps. It seems having a physical interaction with objects that are linked to the material is an effective way of bringing interest to a lesson.
 * 1) Interaction with artifacts.**

Everything from a tour of Alcatraz to a botanical trip to Balboa Park is an opportunity for fun learning. These out-of-classroom experiences also had a high correlation with thinking creatively and critically. By being able to immerse oneself in a new, interactive environment, the learners enjoy the experience tremendously. Rich's Dad wrote that his fun experience "felt real to [...be] able to do what my father did for a living while learning at the same time." A key is giving learners a strong sense of purpose while they interact with the learning environment.
 * 2) Field Trip / out-of-class experience.**

Happily Mixed described being put into two teams to name bones of the human body for points. Bacon recounts an English class where the students worked in groups to perform skits they created based on Shakespeare's. By being able to actively engage with other learners in a positive and productive manner, the learning is perceived a fun and worthwhile. These interactions usually asked participants to think creatively and critically. Having a shared experience with peers seems to be a plus.
 * 3) Interaction with others.**

Kaybee relates a story about a teacher who was "enthusiastic about the material that was being presented." Kaybee also described this experience as interactive and engaging. DG discusses a similar situation where students presented projects that they were interested in, which made for an enjoyable time for the learners. Because the students were not forced to present material they did not like, their enthusiasm was discernable and the lesson was fun.
 * 4) Instructor is enthusiastic about subject matter.**

One person mentioned, "It was new information I did not know and really needed to know." El Cajon Ed said: " I had a keen interest in learning the material, it was self-directed, I applied my learning immediately, and I controlled the pace." When the individual has intrinsic motivation to learn the material or skill, then the likelihood that they will be engaged is high. Being able to think critically is an expectation that seems to run tangent with information that the learner would like to possess.
 * 5) Learning a useful / desired skill.**

Implications
This survey was not terribly surprising, although they are incredibly relevant. Sometimes teachers forget what makes a fun learning environment. It is imperative for instructors to think about a lesson from the learners' point of view. Important aspects from this survey for future lesson-planning include: having lots of varying visuals, interactions between all participants, being excited about the subject matter and using state changes to break up large chunks of information. The main point to take away is to remember that teaching is a shared experience for all parties and should be treated as such. Lectures and teaching are two very different things.